Cambridge A Level · 9608 · Paper 1 · Theory fundamentals

Computer Science 9608/13 May/June 2015 past paper

Cambridge A Level Computer Science (9608) (previous syllabus, now 9618) Paper 1 (Theory fundamentals), variant 3, May/June 2015: the question paper and its official mark scheme, 7 questions worth 75 marks, with the grade thresholds. Free to open, no account needed.

Questions: 7
Marks: 75
Grade A from: 51

Open the question paper Mark scheme

File names: 9608_s15_qp_13 · 9608_s15_ms_13

Grade thresholds for 9608/13 May/June 2015

The minimum raw marks Cambridge set for each grade on this component (out of 75). Thresholds change every session and variant, so always compare your score with the paper you actually sat.

A	B	C	D	E
51	44	38	32	27

Topics in this paper

Which syllabus chapters 9608/13 May/June 2015 tested, by marks. Each chapter links to every past-paper question on it.

Chapter	Questions	Marks
Processor Fundamentals	2	30
Hardware	2	22
Security, privacy and data integrity	1	11
Information representation	1	7
System Software	1	5

Questions in 9608/13 May/June 2015

Question 1Information representation · 7 marks
(a) (i) Using two’s complement, show how the following denary numbers could be stored in an 8-bit register: 124 –77 (ii) Convert the two numbers in part (a) (i) into hexadecimal. …
Question 2System Software · 5 marks
Assemblers translate from assembly language to machine code. Some assemblers scan the assembly language program twice; these are referred to as two-pass assemblers. The following table shows five activities performed by two-pass assemblers. Write 1 or 2 to indicate whether …
Question 3Security, privacy and data integrity · 11 marks
(a) Give the definition of the terms firewall and authentication. Explain how they can help with the security of data. Firewall Authentication (b) Describe two differences between data integrity and data security. (c) Data integrity is required at the input …
Question 4Hardware · 10 marks
(a) There are two types of RAM: dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM). Five statements about DRAM and SRAM are shown below. Draw a line to link each statement to the appropriate type of RAM. Statement Type of RAM …
Question 5Processor Fundamentals · 17 marks
(a) Name and describe three buses used in the von Neumann model. Bus 1 Description Bus 2 Description Bus 3 Description (b) The sequence of operations shows, in register transfer notation, the fetch stage of the fetch- execute cycle. 1 …
Question 6Hardware · 12 marks
(a) Three digital sensors A, B and C are used to monitor a process. The outputs from the sensors are used as the inputs to a logic circuit. A signal, X, is output from the logic circuit: logic circuit A …
Question 7Processor Fundamentals · 13 marks
The table shows assembly language instructions for a processor which has one general purpose register, the Accumulator (ACC). Instruction Explanation Op code Operand LDD <address> Direct addressing. Load contents of given address to ACC STO <address> Store the contents of …

Other Computer Science papers from May/June 2015

Questions students ask

Where can I get the 9608/13 May/June 2015 mark scheme?

Open the mark scheme above - it is the official Cambridge scheme for this exact paper (9608_s15_ms_13), and on a wide screen it sits beside the question you are reading.

What was the grade threshold for an A in 9608/13 May/June 2015?

51 marks out of 75, a C needed 38.

Which topics came up in 9608/13 May/June 2015?

Mostly Processor Fundamentals, Hardware, Security, privacy and data integrity. The full list is in the table above.

Do I need an account to open 9608/13 May/June 2015?

No. Every paper opens for free without signing in. A free account also saves your pen marks and records your score against the grade thresholds.